Dr. Blackwell's BLOG

While I am not too familiar with the music of American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert, I found this clip to be pretty appropriate and entertaining. Tuesday night, Lambert was performing a set for a radio promotion in NYC and stopped his band to ask a rude cell phone chatter to “hang it up.” Take a look:

 In one of the absolute best concert experiences I’ve ever had (and I’ve seen A LOT of live performances throughout the years), pop superstar Lady GaGa brought her Monster Fame Ball to Orlando Sunday night. Playing before a sold-out at-capacity crowd of over 10,000 at the UCF Arena, GaGa sang almost every song from her new album The Fame Monster, and a large portion of her debut album The Fame. The gigantic stage was flanked by enormous electric projection screens which not only hid the background musicians (rising several times to reveal the live band dressed in some pretty cool costumes), but had visual projections which accented the performances perfectly. In the forefront, Lady GaGa sang and danced alongside her army of dancers. The choreography was amazingly unique and the entire spectacle continued to solidify GaGa as the next mega-superstar.

The concert opened with “Dance in the Dark” from The Fame Monster which GaGa sang behind a thin screen with digitally-projected images in-front of her. The screen soon lifted as she burst into her first #1 single “Just Dance.” The concert then settled into most of the tunes from her new The Fame Monster, highlighted by an amazing 15-minute piano interlude which saw performances of “Speechless” and an acoustic version of “Poker Face.” But the dance tunes again ruled supreme with rocking numbers from The Fame, including “Love Game,” “Paparazzi,” and “Poker Face.” The show ended with GaGa’s highly energetic and most-recent #1 song “Bad Romance.” The crowd didn’t stop to breathe one-time! Everyone danced the night away while partying with Lady GaGa, who is on-pace to be the next Madonna. And from the incredible 2-hour long spectacle of theatrics, vocals, choreography, and talent shown to Orlando on Sunday, it is apparent this super-star is well on her way!

 Lady GaGa, who released her new CD The Fame Monster (which could rival Green Day’s 21st Century Breakdown as the Best Album of 2009), gave an absolutely stunning performance on Ellen on Friday. Playing her famed piano and singing her song “Speechless” (a very close second best song for the album next to “Bad Romance”), GaGa belted out some amazing notes and continued to show the world just how talented she is. The Fame Monster Ball, GaGa’s latest tour, kicked-off Thanksgiving night in Montreal. The show hits Hard Rock Live in Orlando on January 3rd. The show is sold-out. Watch below as Lady GaGa performs “Speechless” on Ellen:

Just in-time for the release of her new album The Fame Monster, Lady GaGa gave an absolutely incredible performance at last night’s American Music Awards. She started her set by singing about half of her new single “Bad Romance” before taking to her piano to perform “Speechless.” Her spectacular performance (below) is a MUST SEE! The Fame Monster releases tomorrow from Interscope Geffen Records. The Monster Ball Tour begins in just a few days, kicking off November 28th in Montreal, Canada. The tour lands in Orlando at Hard Rock Live on January 3rd. The show is sold-out. Lady GaGa’s AMA performance:

 With just a little over a month and a half before Lady GaGa returns to Orlando for her Monster Ball Tour, some amazing footage of her days as a student at New York University have surfaced. Below, GaGa (then known by her real name “Stefani Germanotta”) performs two songs she wrote at NYU’s 2005 talent show. Her amazing talent is evident and at times, breath-taking. Lady GaGa’s new album The Fame Monster released Tuesday November 23rd on Interscope Geffen Records. “Bad Romance” the first single from The Fame Monster is currently #11 on Billboard’s Top 100 Chart and had the greatest airplay and sales gains this week.

  A spectacular new video for Lady GaGa’s new single “Bad Romance” released today. Like most GaGa performances, this one is definitely as histrionic as the last video for her #1 single “Paparazzi” and highlights her endless talent. The song is also fantastic, featuring the Lady GaGa pop-synth sound which has made her one of the most popular performers in popular music today. This is the first single from Lady GaGa’s forthcoming album The Fame Monster extending her original release The Fame with 8 additional newly recorded songs. “Bad Romance” is available at retailers nationwide and for digital download on iTunes now. The Fame Monster releases November 23rd from Interscope Records. Watch the video for “Bad Romance” below:

  Erasure members Andy Bell and Vince Clark met in New York City earlier this week to begin work on a new album. Erasure’s last album Light at the End of the World was released in 2007 and was followed by sold-out performances for their Light at the End of the World Tour, which made its way to Hard Rock Live in Orlando in July of that year. The duo have been working on solo projects for the past 2 years, including a re-team with Alison Monet of Yaz for Clark and a new forthcoming solo album by Andy Bell. Erasure Information Service is reporting the new album should be released by the end of 2010. Hopefully, a new tour will accompany its release. Erasure’s fan site (erasureinfo.com) will keep updated posts on Erasure’s progress on the new album.

Although Saturday Night Live continues to make audiences question why it is still on the air with its non-funny skits and terrible writing (a skit featuring Madonna and Lady GaGa appeared akward, unfunny, and a waste of the appearance of a superstar), it got a much-needed shot-in-the arm Saturday. The pop sensation Lady Gaga performed her new single “Paparazzi” and also gave an intimate piano-laden performance of a medley of songs from The Fame and new song “Bad Romance.” Watch the spectacular performances below:

   Last night marked the final performance of Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour, which concluded in Tel Aviv, Israel. Not only was this tour the highest-grossing tour for any solo artist in history, but the Material Girl also destroyed the record books in foreign markets as well. After playing 85 shows since its launch in August 2008, Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour has drawn more than 3.5 million fans in 32 countries and has grossed $408 million, it was announced today by Live Nation, the tour’s global producer. Sticky & Sweet is also the second highest grossing tour of all time. Madonna set an attendance record for the biggest crowds in history in Zurich, Switzerland, where she drew the largest audience ever assembled for a show in that country (72,000). Her Gothenburg, Sweden show, seen by 119,000 fans, broke the record for highest grossing multiple shows in the country’s history. In Helsinki, Finland, “Sticky & Sweet” sold more than 85,000 tickets, making it the biggest single show by an artist in history for all of Scandinavia. Other highlights on the tour included stops in Buenos Aires, Argentina (256,000), Santiago, Chile (146,000), Sao Paulo, Brazil (203,000), Tallinn, Estonia (72,000), Warsaw, Poland (79,000), Bucharest, Romania (69,000), and Sofia, Bulgaria (54,000). “With Sticky & Sweet Madonna has proven yet again that there is virtually no limit to what she can accomplish both creatively and commercially,” said Arthur Fogel, Live Nation’s Chairman of Global Music and CEO of Global Touring. Sticky & Sweet broke Madonna’s previous record of most successful tour by a solo artist with her 2006 Confessions Tour, which grossed $194 million.